Jim Thornton's Wheel Of Fortune suspension scandal takes an odious turn

Among the chat room interactions shown in these photos, implicitly confirmed by Thornton’s attorney, are comments from people in pedophilic circles about viewing child pornography in public spaces (such as on airplane flights), which would add an ironic wrinkle to the story should criminal charges be brought against Thornton. (None have been brought as of this writing.) The passenger who supplied these images to TMZ told the outlet that they informed a flight attendant about Thornton’s conduct, which led to Thornton being confronted by police at LAX. He was allowed to leave soon afterward. Speaking as Thornton’s attorney, Allison Hart told TMZ that this misunderstanding stems from the Fortune announcer’s “suicide-prevention advocacy” after he lost a family member to suicide in 2024, and that he “[spends] time visiting chat rooms offering support to individuals suffering from suicidal ideation.”

As for that, TMZ says Thornton was “sent a link to a different chatroom” by an acquaintance from one of the suicide-prevention groups he is said to frequent. The chat room in question, the outlet reports, is “for people with pedophilic thoughts… and has no connection to the suicide hotline chat.” The outlet also reports that Thornton has claimed that he clicked out of the room when he discovered its use, but from the timestamps of the photos, “it appears Thornton was in the room for at least 57 minutes.” Of the websites Thornton visits, Hart goes on to say that “there is no unlawful child pornography or other pedophilic content, and my client never viewed, downloaded or consumed any child pornography whether on that commercial flight in May or at any other time.”